Title:Intracellular Compartmentalization: A Key Determinant of MicroRNA Functions
Volume: 12
Issue: 2
Author(s): Rohit Nalavade*Mohini Singh*
Affiliation:
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
- Department of Life Sciences, Sharda School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, India
Keywords:
Eukaryotic transcriptome, biogenesis, prominent roles, endogenously or exogenously, miRNAs, gene regulatory pathways.
Abstract: Being an integral part of the eukaryotic transcriptome, miRNAs are regarded as vital regulators
of diverse developmental and physiological processes. Clearly, miRNA activity is kept in
check by various regulatory mechanisms that control their biogenesis and decay pathways. With the
increasing technical depth of RNA profiling technologies, novel insights have unravelled the spatial
diversity exhibited by miRNAs inside a cell. Compartmentalization of miRNAs adds complexity to
the regulatory circuits of miRNA expression, thereby providing superior control over the miRNA
function. This review provides a bird’s eye view of miRNAs expressed in different subcellular locations,
thus affecting the gene regulatory pathways therein. Occurrence of miRNAs in diverse intracellular
locales also reveals various unconventional roles played by miRNAs in different cellular organelles
and expands the scope of miRNA functions beyond their traditionally known repressive activities.